Virtual Brush Box

Awareness of the outside world. Seattle WorldCon starts today. It is primarily an in-person event. However, they are promising a strong virtual component for members. There will also be several presentations open to the general public, at no charge, on their YouTube Channel, including the Hugo Awards Ceremony.

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Optimus
Stepping Stone Farm
Saddle seat lesson
August 2025

Since Optimus is such a reliable dude, I opted to work on things from my hunt seat lesson, specifically keeping my helmet brim up and lifting from the top of my head. [The Lessons Continue]

The phrase Coach James uses to explain this is ‘Lift Your Chin.’ This command, combined with the two previous thoughts hit my brain in such a way that it actually worked. I’ve been told to lift my chin before, many times. Coach Courtney will say, “chest, chin” as a ringside reminder.

Why did it work this time? No idea. This must be one of the joys and frustrations of being a teacher. Joy that they finally get it. Frustration that you have been saying the same thing in different ways for weeks, months, years.

From a biomechanic point of view, lifting the chin could be interpreted either as rotating the skull or as bringing the entire assembly higher off the ground. I chose to interpret the words as combining both actions.

Coach James then added ‘lift the ribcage’ which I have also heard before, more than once. Somehow, this time, it worked. The combined actions of lifting my chin, pulling my head up, and keeping my brim up opened up space for me to life my ribcage into.

It was amazing. I felt light, solid, in balance. All the wonderful things. It was energizing, even magical.

At least at a walk.

At a trot, I could maintain the lift in my chin & ribcage, but everything else fell apart. My legs went everywhere. This doesn’t happen. My lower half assembly is solid. Usually.

Back to the walk to reevaluate. At faster speeds, I was failing to keep my pelvic bone in a vertical alignment. I did this thing. It helps if I think about leaving space for an ASB to be expressive with their front end.

Return to trot. Good thing I was on Optimus because I could barely ride. Steering and other horse-related activities had fallen off my radar. Work in progress.

The canter went well, but then, my canter does.

Optimus was all for it. I was in balance, out of his way, making myself easier to carry.

When it went right, it was amazing. All the pieces fit together. It was simplicity itself to stay in the correct position. Suddenly. I had more use of my arms. Maintaining the canter all the way around the ring was a piece of cake

Would I remember this next time? Funny you should ask. Tune in tomorrow.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. I am filled with rage and the desire to blame, none of which is helpful, including to myself.

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Agenda. Walk with the horses each morning. One mile, back and forth in the pasture, combination of in hand & at liberty.

Currently. Milton is choosing to take short laps and to sit out the occasional lap. We suspect he is brewing an abscess in the other hind foot. [Milton’s Yearly Drama]

What is up with Milton’s feet this summer? Grot. Abscess. Pulled shoe. Now this. Rodney joined in with the ankle grot, but not the rest. [Fun With Foot Grot, Not, Why Do We Horse, Shoeing Edition]

I declare it the Year of the Foot. Horse feet. Husband’s foot. My foot. Two friends with foot adventures, one of which was a hoof stomp. [Foot 2025, list of posts]

Horse feet problems are most likely due to the excessive wetness this spring. Dunno what’s up with the people.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Scalzi coined the phrase, “The failure mode of clever is ‘asshole.’ ” Whatever. I would like to posit that this is true for men. If you are female, the failure mode of clever is silly. Ask me how I know.

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Milton. Outlast. Bordering on miracle cure. He lets us touch his ears now. Like, actually reach up and rub them. Not just sneak up from the side to check for ticks. Have his problems in the past been rooted in stomachaches?

Rodney. Gastroguard. Has been on Outlast. We finally interpreted the minion messages and realized it wasn’t working. After one dose of Gastroguard, the change is night & day.

Same breed. Same living conditions. Same exercise regimen. Same hay, feed & grass. Wildly different requirements. I don’t think I will ever understand horses.

Nor will I understand what on earth my horses have to be stressed about.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. MOPOP: Online Collection Vault. The Museum of Pop Culture is in Seattle WA USA. Posted here in honor of Seattle WorldCon 2025, the 83rd World Science Fiction Convention, which starts this week.

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Fuchsia in color. Fabric in theory.

“Fuchsia is a vivid pinkish-red color, named after the color of the flower of the fuchsia plant, which was named by a French botanist, Charles Plumier, after the 16th-century German botanist Leonhart Fuchs.” Wiki: Fuchsia (color).

“Traditionally, historic blackwork is done on very fine plain-weave linen, typically 80-90 threads per inch.” The Little Book of Historic Blackwork by Toni Buckby (IPN 2024), p13.

Process Notes

Outer form from E alternate. Has the advantage of maximizing interior space for the pattern. [E Variations]

Partial interior pattern. The rest are single Fs in one of four orientations.

Arrangement I would have used if I wasn’t trying to fit the inner design into the outer shape.

As with any of the square letters, – F, T, etc. – you have to be careful of unintentionally producing culturally fraught symbols.

Project Description [Colorwork Alphabet Introduction]

Previous Posts [Colorwork Alphabet]

Onwards!
Katherine

This was supposed to be a Faces in the Crowd exercise, wherein I make up stories about strangers as fictioneering practice. However, I chose a food hall that shall remain nameless. The food was so astonishingly bad that I had to go somewhere else for lunch. Plus, the floor plan is not set up well for people watching. But I digress. Enjoy the cat. Archives [Faces]

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Skittles, aka The Shed Monster
May 2025
Stepping Stone Farm

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. The 80th anniversary of Fat Man dropped on Nagasaki is tomorrow. Fstoppers: From Kodachrome to the Atomic Bomb: The Strange, Dark, and Untold History of Film, Webster, 31 July 2025.

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Kymulga Grist Mill
Talladega County AL
July 2025

Video description. 11 seconds of a small stream making stream noises.

(Having Internet issues. Video may appear as a still. Imagine babbling brook noises. Later, video added.)

Technical Details

Video taken from bridge, turned to the left.

Phone camera.

Videography rather than photography. Stayed with a standard term in an effort to keep my subtitles from spinning out of control. [State of the Subtitles]

Previous Posts

Visual. [Water Study, Recurring Guest Star Photography]

Auditory. Ocean, Rockport MA, USA [A Moment of Calm To Start The Year]

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. WWF: Bittersweet: chocolate’s impact on the environment. Not sweet but has hopeful notes.

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ISO a spunky sport Saddlebred with a range of interests.

Lower level eventing. [Finding A Horse To Match The Hat]

Local jumpers.

In-state saddle seat shows.

The two ASB shows that offer jumps. [Saddlebred Versatility, Jumpers St. L, Squad Goals LA]

Enough class for a cameo appearance at Lexington. [Additional Requirement]

All these have been mentioned previously.

I have a new one. Saddle seat sidesaddle. You can do all three seats sidesaddle: hunt seat, saddle seat, & western. I used to show with a woman who did. (Waves hi wherever you are!)

This is not unusual from a historical perspective. Sidesaddle is saddle seat. [Saddle Seat Sidesaddle]

However, it would be unusual under current usage. Most sidesaddle these days is hunt seat. [What’s In A Name, Guest Photos]

Imagine me showing up in an ASB country pleasure class in flawless, traditional saddle seat sidesaddle.

Well, traditional except for a helmet. I wonder if I could get a helmet cover in the shape of a derby.

New horse better show up soon. The list keeps getting longer.

Onwards!
Katherine